Bintulu town squatters area in early 80's

View of Bintulu town from the Kemena River bank towards the Chinese temple (Tua Pek Kong), 1987

 There was a big squatters settlement in the midst of Bintulu town in the early 80's.  In 1987 a major squatters demolishment was done to cleanup the town of illegal buildings and slums.  The above picture shows some of the wooden structures built by the squatters that were in the process of being demolished by the government authorities.  The public space taken by the slums were later turned into an esplanade, car parking lots and new market buildings.

View from  Bintulu Esplanade (tiled area) towards the Chinese temple area and Main Bazaar Road - 25 December,2013.

Many festivals, public gatherings, fun fairs, shows and Ramadan markets are now held at the esplanade area.  The wooden shophouses in the 80's are replaced by permanent concrete shophouses.  The Main Bazaar road now becomes a four-lane one way street.

Bintulu town squatters area - 1984

Date taken : circa 1983 -84 ( Colour photo )

In 1984 there was one major squatters demolition and resettlement project undertaken by the BDA with the help of the various government departments in Bintulu town area. In 1984 the the whole squatters area was cleaned up. The above picture depicts the seriousness of the squatters problems in Bintulu as even within the center of the Bintulu town the squatters had built their colony. It was evident that the rapid migration of temporary construction workers among the local Sarawakians looking for jobs in Bintulu were not met with sufficient affordable housing for many jobless Sarawakians. Thus they had no choice but to build up camp amidst the burgeoning squatters colony. Somewhere towards the upper right of the picture is seen the pitched roof of the old fish market ( behind the big umbrella). The Main Bazaar road during those time was a two-way street. The use of mechanised sweeper was a novelty among the local authorities in Sarawak. Bintulu was one of those local authorities that pride in having them to clean the streets daily.

Date taken : 29 Dec'10 ( Digital - Sony Cyber-shot)

In place of the old fish market rises a twin main market building called " Pasar Utama" in Malay. The architecture of the market was inspired from the local Melanau sun-hat called the "Terendak". The Main Bazaar road now functions as a four-lane one way street with ample car parking spaces on both sides. Towards the left of the picture is partly seen a large open space for public activities. With the re-development of the squatters area, Bintulu had shed its image as a dirty cowboy town of the 80's.

Sky Theatre - 1950's

Date taken : circa late 1950's ( B&W photo)

As a young kid and adult growing in Bintulu I have seen the rise and the fall of the cinema entertainment business here especially those buildings purpose-built to project celluloid films on huge theatre white screens. One such institution was the Sky Theatre of which the building is seen on the right of the picture above. The space between the theatre and the wooden shophouses have been taken up by the Hoover Hotel as shown below. The wooden shophouses are gone now. The main road that is seen above is the Keppel Road and is not yet well-paved. Cars are very few indeed and there is ample green space in between the opposite row of wooden shophouses. Life seemed to remain standstill except of course the dramatic experiences shown in the theatre. I have my share of attending films ( including cheap Sunday matinees), acrobatic shows, magic shows, concerts and singing competitions organised in the theatre. The Sky Theatre was owned by a local businessman named Yek Min Ek and was opened for business in the 1950's. The theatre survived for 40 years but with the advent of television in the 1970's and video tapes in the 1980's, the cinema business suffered badly and the theatre met its natural death in the 1990's.

Date taken : 2 Dec'10 ( Digital - Sony cyber-shot)

The original site of the Sky Theatre now houses the 'City Point' building which is owned by the Hock Lee group a company started by Yek Min Ek. In the building there are cineplexes as a sign of continuity in the cinema business and still having popular audience. The wooden shophouses are replaced by permanent ones. The Keppel road now enjoys trappings of modernism like bituminous or tar-sealed road. To encourage smooth traffic flow the local authority decided to make the Kepppel Road a one-way four-lane street complete with traffic lights, pedestrain crossing, tiled street pavements, underground cables for the lamp posts and landscaping.

Bintulu town - early 1970's

Date taken : circa early 1970's ( B&W photo)

The picture above shows Keppel Road when bicycles were king of the road. In the early 1970's cars were very rarely seen around town. The Keppel Road then was a two - way street with ample green space in between. The row of concrete buildings at the far right background was one of the few permanent- type buildings seen in the 1970's. Two institutions important at that time that were housed in the block were the Standard Chartered bank and the Capitol Hotel. The Capitol Hotel occupies the corner lot of the block and still exists today but re-named as Capitol Inn. Note the wooden shophouses on both sides of the road built primarily of 'belian' posts and roofing of 'belian' shingles. The first floor of the shophouses were normally made into residences by the shop owners. The ground floor of the shophouses however were of concrete flooring. The electrical posts in the center of the road were also of 'belian' timber - the hardest wood in Sarawak.

Date taken : 2 Dec'10 ( Digital - Sony Cyber-shot)

Today, Keppel Road is a one-way 3-lane road with ample parking spaces infront of the shophouses but charges are imposed by the local authority at the rate of 20 'sen' ( cents) per first 30 minutes and gradually increases thereafter. The two-storey wooden shophouses when re-built were increased to four storeys high. The tallest building at the far right was built over a previously empty open space and now houses the 'Kintown Inn'.

OKMS School - 1970's

Date taken : May 1976

The Orang Kaya Mohammad School (OKMS) in Bintulu is the first school run on a Malay medium of instruction in Bintulu. The above building showed how the school appeared from the the late 1950's to the 1970's era. I had the opportunity to study in this school for my first year primary school education in 1958. I recall at that time the classroom floor was concrete, the walls were wooden and the roofing was of 'belian' shingles. However I did not complete my primary schooling in OKMS and instead continued my second year schooling up till primary six (1959 -1963) at St. Anthony School which was an English medium primary school.

The name of the school derived from a well-known local Bintulu personality during the times of the Brunei Sultanate by the name of Mohammad bin Sungan. As representative of the Brunei rule in Bintulu he was able to ensure peace and smooth running of governance in Bintulu. As an honour of his abilities to lead the local peoples of Bintulu he was given the title " Orang Kaya Pemancha Mohammad" by the Brunei Sultanate.

Date taken : 29 Nov'10

( Digital by Sony cyber-shot)

A concrete double -storey building has taken up space from the original wooden structure site. This school remains the only school situated within the Bintulu town commercial area. From what was once a school serving the local Malay and Melanau community who lived in villages around the school area, today this school accomodates students from various ethnic groups especially the Ibans who have over the years taken up employment in the shophouses and other commercial outfits owned by the Chinese business community located in the Bintulu town area.

Mile O - early 1980's

Date taken : 13 May'1984 ( Colour photograph)

View of Bintulu town from MO ( Mile O ) i.e. start of the JKR maintained road radiating out of Bintulu town to Kidurong Highway, Higway to Sibu and Highway to Miri. Note the landscaping using low cover plants, the three big buildings on the right belong to government agencies. Of importance to the small town of Bintulu then was the Customs office -cum godown and stockyard area (red roof) . Closest to the foreground on the right is the Forestry Office.

Date taken : 25 November'2010

Of significance in the above picture are the Melanau sunhat-styled roofing structure of the public market buildings built by the BDA ( Bintulu Development Authority). In the Melanau language the sunhat is called " Saong" or " Terendak" in Malay. The one closest to the foreground( in light green colour roofing) is the 'Tamu ' or jungle produce market. The two other buildings in the far background in blue coloured roofing are the 'Pasar Utama' which houses the vegetable and fish and poultry market as well as drinking and eating stalls on their first floors.

Jalan Keppel - mid 70's

Jalan Keppel ( Keppel Road) seen on the left.

Date taken : circa 1976

Date taken : 20Nov'10

What was once a tiny two-way street has today become a one- way three-lane town road. The two-storey building on the right was once BDC adminstrative office turned into the BDA Library when Bintulu District Council(BDC) was merged with the BDA ( Bintulu Development Authority) upon the introduction of BDA to administer and develop Bintulu starting the early 1980's. The low building after the ex-BDA library is the Sarawak state information centre which still exists even at this point of blogging. The tall structure after the information centre is the 'Kintown Inn'- a modern touch to the townscape. The open space to the right of the top picture was a community open space that catered for a basketball court and public amenities like swing, see-saw and a resting shed. Today at the same space is allocated a green area with its focal point a public fountain- the first ever for Bintulu and running. Typical of Bintulu shophouses in the 1960's and 1970's they were principally of wooden structures. Today concrete shophouses have replaced the old wooden ones. Note the trend to replace overhead electricity cables with undeground cabling and better tiled street pavements for a modern image town.

Note our fashion during those times. Men wear bell-bottoms, sport long hair and dress smartly as teachers. On the extreme left is yours truly . Others from left to right are Zahiruddin Khan, Angela Chung, Zarina Sauni, Josmani, Wong Kee and Chong Tong Liap. We were all teachers from the Bintulu Government Secondary School (BGSS).